The Swiss government announced this Monday (23), during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, that it will promote a conference for the reconstruction of Ukraine in the city of Locarno, in July.
The announcement preceded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech at the opening of the activities – a sign of the status that the Russian-initiated war receives at the event.
Zelenski spoke for nearly 30 minutes via live broadcast and answered questions from Forum founder Klaus Schwab to an audience packed with executives, government representatives, academics and members of the third sector who cheered him for more than two minutes.
The president of Ukraine compared the present moment to those that, in 1914 and 1938, led, respectively, to the First and Second World War. He urged participants to pressure governments and companies in their countries to redouble sanctions against Russia as a way to prevent a worsening of the conflict, which completes three months on Tuesday (24), and to discourage further invasions.
“This is the turning point. Don’t wait until Russia uses its special weapons, its chemical weapons or even its nuclear weapons,” Zelensky said. “Don’t let Russia think there will be no reaction. Suspend Russian oil business. Block all Russian banks. Cut all trade with Russia. We have to create this precedent.”
The United States and other Western countries have taken a series of measures to partially block the Russians from the global economy, with political and economic reverberations across the planet, especially in terms of inflation. Left out, however, were the important hydrocarbon market —oil and gas— and part of the banking transactions. Western companies have abandoned the country.
Zelensky offered incentives to those leaving Russia to settle in Ukraine. He also proposed that governments and companies take on the sponsorship of rebuilding cities or economic sectors in his country at the July conference.
According to the Center for Economic Policy Research (Cepr), the devastation of the country’s infrastructure by the war and other economic impacts could cost Kiev up to US$ 1 trillion (R$ 4.9 trillion), excluding costs related to the deaths of citizens. Ukrainians. So far, in infrastructure damage alone, it was $30 billion.
Zelensky also drew attention to the blockade of ports, the looting of grain production and the displacement of Ukrainians, who had to flee their homes, inside and outside the country: about 6 million people, or 13% of the country’s population. .
The Forum unequivocally assumed the Ukrainian side, excluding the Russians, for years important funders of the entity’s programs. The traditional House of Russia, which promotes business in the country, has been replaced by the “House of War Crimes of Russia”. In addition to the session with Zelensky, local Ukrainian parliamentarians, journalists and politicians participate in panels throughout the four-day event.
